Monthly Archives: January 2011

Education Stakeholders Forum – U.S. Department of Education

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On Monday, January 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the Department’s Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO) will host its first Education Stakeholders Forum of the new year.

The Secretary will outline the Department’s legislative and programmatic priorities for 2011, and senior officials will provide the latest information on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program and a new initiative for sharing state data profiles.

As with previous forums, the meeting will take place at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. However, in an effort to make the information shared readily available, the Department will also be live streaming this forum.

Beginning at 9:00 a.m. that morning, anyone wishing to listen in to the forum proceedings can visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/education-department.

Research the Focus of House Higher Education Committee

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This morning the House Higher Education Committee continued its efforts to better understand higher education in Washington with a focus on research.

Unique to this hearing was the opportunity for members of the committee to hear about the research efforts at Washington’s comprehensive institutions, including Evergreen.

In her presentation, Nancy Murray- faculty- focused on undergraduate research opportunities and preparing students for graduate work  at Evergreen. Murray was joined by Kate Reimer – a senior at Evergreen – who shared her perspective as an undergraduate researcher. 

Murray and Reimer were followed by researchers and presentations by Central Washington, Eastern Washington, and Western Washington universities.  These presentations were preceded by representatives from the University of Washington and Washington State University.

House’s Proposed Supplemental Budget Moves to the Floor

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Last night Chair Ross Hunter moved the House’s proposed supplemental budget (HB 1086)  from the committee to the House floor.

Members of the House Ways & Means Committee spent several hours discussing various amendments to the bill that impact key parts of the state budget, including K-12, health and human services, and higher education.

The Committee adopted a single amendment that altered the reductions to higher education proposed in the supplemental budget. The proposed supplemental budget reduces funding by $4 million to research for the University of Washington and Washington State University.  The amendment to the bill passed last night requires UW and WSU to limit the impact of this reduction to research functions only.

Reductions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB)  and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) were retained.

The House’s proposed supplemental budget now goes to the House floor for further consideration.

Dialogue with Chair of House Higher Education Committee

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Today The Seattle Times is hosting an online chat to answer questions about the cuts and what impacts they’ll have with Chair Larry Seaquist, House Higher Education Committee.

The chat will begin at 1:00.  You can join in here: Education – Live chat about higher education in Wash. state

The House Higher Education Committee is under new leadership this session. Rep. Larry Seaquist was named chair in December and has since then been working with members to take a fresh look at university funding and issues.

To start the 2011 session, the committee has done a series of informative overviews of various issues affecting our state’s higher education system — which began back in the 1860’s.

Faculty Highlighted in the House and Budgets the Focus of the Senate

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Led by Chair Seaquist the House Higher Education Committee continued its efforts to inform and educate itself about higher education in Washington.

This morning the Committee focused on faculty at both two- and four-year institutions in Washington. Faculty from Washington’s comprehensive institutions, including Evergreen, provided members with insights into who faculty are and what challenges they face in the classroom. Faculty from the research institutions and the community and technical colleges also shared their perspective.

In the afternoon, Higher education advocates, inlcuding the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the Council of Presidents (COP), spoke specifically to the impacts of declining state resources for higher education during the  January 19 Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee’s work session.

Chair Rodney Tom focused the two-hour work session on the impact of reductions in state funding in recent years, highlighting the potential impact of the Governor’s proposed budget.

The work session provided the opportunity for higher education institutions to speak to specific impacts to their institutions through testimony and answer questions from policymakers.

Tuition, Accountability and Budget Topics of Discussion

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Higher education advocates, inlcuding the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the Council of Presidents (COP), spoke to the critical links between state funding, tuition, and financial aid and the role of accountability/performance metrics at the January 18 Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee’s work session.

Chair Rodney Tom focused the two-hour work session on the relationship between tuition, state funding, and accountability and the impact on student access. The work session provided the opportunity for higher education institutions to provide testimony and answer questions from policymakers.

Following informative presentations by the HECB , legislative staff, and COP institutions were provided the opportunity to share their thoughts.  The comments provided by representatives of the public, four-year higher education sector included the impacts of reductions to date, the importance of flexibility, and ideas about accountability and performance metrics.

In the afternoon, the presidents of all six public, baccalaureate institutions engaged the Senate Ways & Means Committee regarding state funding and the impacts of the Governor’s proposed 2011-13 biennial budget.

Chair Ed Murray focused the work session on higher education, including both two- and four-year institutions. 

Kicking off the discussion with an overview, the Council of Presidents highlighted the recent impacts to state funding for higher education and the potential impact of the Governor’s proposed budget. 

The presidents then spoke to the challenges they share with policymakers in funding services and programs for their constituents in a difficult fiscal climate.  The presidents acknowledged the difficult fiscal climate in their comments and asked for the flexibility and the opportunity to work with members to make strategic decisions that will allow institutions to steer through the storm.

WA House Releases Proposed Supplemental Budget

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Higher education is preserved for the most part in the Washington House’s proposed FY11 supplemental budget – HB 1086.

Total spending reductions for higher education funding are $4.5 million, including a $4 million reduction to research for the University of Washington and Washington State University and $541,000 in reductions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) – $378,000 and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) – $163,000.

The proposed supplemental reduces funding to the following HECB programs and services: (1) College Readiness Program, (2) Health Sciences and Services Authority (HSSA), (3) student financial aid adminsitration, and (4) the Technology Transformation Task Force.

In addition, the proposed supplemental budget makes reductions in several other parts of the state budget including K-12 and health and human services, including a $42 million reduction to K-4 class size enhancement and reductions to the Basic Health Program

The proposed House supplemental budget differs from the Governor in several ways. The House’s proposal maintains current levy equalization for K-12 districts and current funding for Apple Health for Kids and the Disability Lifeline. In addition, reductions were made to the following programs, but not to the level proposed by the Governor – state food assistance, child abuse prevention, prescription drug assistance for seniors, community health clinics, family planning services, and mental health assistance. 

Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. The House’s proposed supplemental reduces the budget shortfall by $340 million, leaving approximately $260 million in the red for the year.

The House Ways & Means Committee will hold an Executive Session on HB 1086 this afternoon.

Evergreen Opens for House Higher Education

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This afternoon The Evergreen State College opened the House Higher Education Committee hearing.

Ken Tabbutt, Interim Provost, provided the Committee with a brief overview of Evergreen followed by details regarding the impact of the Governor’s proposed 2011-13 operating budget.  Tabbutt highlighted both the fiscal and the policy impacts of the proposed budget. 

  • State funding is reduced for Evergreen by 26.3% for the 2011-13 biennium.
  • Proposed tuition revenue generated leaves Evergreen’s General Operating Fund budget in deficit. The Governor’s budget does not take into account costs associated with over-enrollments and assumes greater  tuition revenue raising capacity
  • Under this proposal tuition revenue represents 63% of Evergreen’s budget compared to 57% last biennium.
  • Assumes Evergreen permanently sustains current over-enrolled levels (2010-2011 4,600 FTE, approx: 400 over-enrolled)
  • Provides funding for the State Need Grant
  •  Eliminates the current per-student funding based budgeting and replaces with degree production based model.
  • Provides $250,000 per year for TRIO program expansion
  • Evergreen is eligible to participate in a new baccalaureate incentive system ($5 million for all public, baccalaureate institutions)
  • Retains proviso limiting where reductions can be made from the prior biennium
  • Removes higher education institutions as recipients of Education Legacy Trust Funds.

In addition, Tabbutt shared with committee members the reductions and efficiencies the College has taken to meet reductions in state funding since 2008 and what is at risk if this trend continues.

Following Evergreen’s presentation the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Workforce Board, and the State Community & Technical Colleges Board provided an overview of the impacts of the Governor’s proposed budgets on their work.

2011 Legislative Session: Week 2

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The second week of the 2011 legislative session will continue to focus on work sessions highlighting hot issues, providing background for legislators, and reporting out the recommendations and work conducted by organizations and agencies during the Interim.

In addition, committees in both chambers will hold public hearings on legislation introduced this session.

Several work sessions and some public hearings are scheduled on critical issues that impact higher education. To learn more follow the links below.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be a review of the Governor’s proposed operating and capital budgets for 2011-13, the impacts of the proposed budget on higher education, and potential action on the supplemental budget.

In addition, the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) are scheduled to receive updates and learn the latest regarding the work of faculty, impacts of the budget, tuition, accountability measures, and the research taking place at Washington’s institutions of higher education.

Action on Supplemental Budget to Begin Next Week

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Next week the House Ways & Means Committee is scheduled to take action on the supplemental budget for the current fiscal year.

In December the Legislature convened a special session to remedy a portion of the budget gap in the current biennium.  The actions taken by policymakers reduced the estimated $1.2 billion shortfall by approximately $700 million. This left a remaining budget gap of approximately $502 million.

The actions next week will focus on closing the remaining budget gap in the current fiscal year.  This is part of an effort by both House and Senate leadership to expedite an early action supplemental budget reduction bill.

In comments earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Brown stated that though the goal is to attempt to close the revenue gap in this fiscal year, both chambers are also focused on ensuring that actions taken in the supplemental budget dovetail with the biennial budget the Legislature must have in place by June 30, 2011.

The hope is to finalize the supplemental buget by early February.